Charcuterie Serving Assembly

ABSTRACT

A charcuterie serving assembly for serving charcuterie includes a charcuterie pan that has a plurality of compartments each integrated into the charcuterie pan to contain a respective food item associated with charcuterie. The charcuterie pan is structured to have the ornamental appearance of a novelty shape. Additionally, indicia are printed thereon on the charcuterie pan and the indicia are positioned in each of the compartments for identifying the food item to be positioned in each compartment. A plurality of feet is each coupled to the charcuterie pan to support the charcuterie pan over a support surface.

(a) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

(b) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

(c) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable

(d) INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

Not Applicable

(e) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

Not Applicable

(f) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to charcuterie devices and more particularly pertains to a new charcuterie device for serving charcuterie. The device includes a charcuterie pan with a plurality of compartments that is each labeled to identify which food items related to charcuterie are to be placed in each compartment.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The prior art relates to charcuterie devices including tableware that has questions printed thereon for stimulating dinner conversation. The prior art discloses a place setting that includes nestable utensils. The prior art discloses a food tray that has a plurality of compartments integrated into the food tray that are shaped to resemble various food shapes. The prior art discloses a food serving tray that has compartments which are strategically sized to hold recommended food portion sizes. The prior art discloses a variety of cutting boards that are each structured to have the ornamental appearance of a novelty item.

(g) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a charcuterie pan that has a plurality of compartments each integrated into the charcuterie pan to contain a respective food item associated with charcuterie. The charcuterie pan is structured to have the ornamental appearance of a novelty shape. Additionally, indicia are printed thereon on the charcuterie pan and the indicia are positioned in each of the compartments for identifying the food item to be positioned in each compartment. A plurality of feet is each coupled to the charcuterie pan to support the charcuterie pan over a support surface.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

(h) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a charcuterie serving assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a right side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a left side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a back view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

(i) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 7 thereof, a new charcuterie device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 7 , the charcuterie serving assembly 10 generally comprises a charcuterie pan 12 that has a plurality of compartments 14 integrated into the charcuterie pan 12. Each of the compartments 14 can contain a respective meat, cheese, crackers or other food item 15 associated with charcuterie. Additionally, the charcuterie pan 12 is structured to have the ornamental appearance of a novelty shape. The novelty shape might be a geometrical shape, an outline of an animal, an outline of an object in nature or any other type of novelty shape.

The charcuterie pan 12 has a bottom wall 16 and a perimeter wall 18 extending upwardly from the bottom wall 16. The perimeter wall 18 follows predetermined curves and angles for facilitating the charcuterie pan 12 to have the ornamental appearance of the novelty shape. The charcuterie pan 12 has a plurality of dividers 20 each extending upwardly from a top surface 22 of the bottom wall 16. The dividers 20 intersect each other and the perimeter wall 18 to define the plurality of compartments 14 in the charcuterie pan 12.

The top surface 22 of the bottom wall 16 has indicia 24 printed thereon and the indicia 24 comprise a plurality of words 26 comprising the name of food item 15 s. Each of the words 26 is positioned within a respective one of the compartments 14 to identify the food item 15 that is to be placed in each of the compartments 14. The words 26 might include “crackers”, “cheese curds”, “meat 1”, “meat 2”, “jam/jelly”, “fruit 1”, “fruit 2”, “nut 1”, and “nut 2”. Additionally, the words 26 might be arranged in the charcuterie pan 12 according to recommendations of professional chefs in order to facilitate the best possible arrangement of the food item 15 s for charcuterie.

A plurality of feet 28 is provided and each of the feet 28 is coupled to the charcuterie pan 12 to support the charcuterie pan 12 over a support surface. Each of the feet 28 is positioned on a bottom surface of sad bottom wall 16. The feet 28 are spaced apart from each other and are distributed over the bottom wall 16. Additionally, each of the feet 28 is comprised of a resiliently compressible material, such as rubber or the like, to grip the support surface.

In use, the food items 15 are placed into compartments 14 according to the labeling of each compartment. In this way the food items 15 can be presented in an appealing and functional manner for charcuterie. Additionally, the shape of the charcuterie pan 12 enhances the overall experience of consuming the food items 15 in the charcuterie pan 12. The charcuterie pan 12 can be washed in the traditional convention of washing pots or pans.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements. 

I claim:
 1. A charcuterie serving assembly having a plurality of defined regions for identifying types of meat, cheese and crackers to be placed in each region, said assembly comprising: a charcuterie pan having a plurality of compartments each being integrated into said charcuterie pan wherein each of said compartments is configured to contain a respective food item associated with charcuterie, said charcuterie pan being structured to have the ornamental appearance of a novelty shape, said charcuterie pan having indicia being printed thereon, said indicia being positioned in each of said compartments for identifying the food item that is to be placed in each compartment; and a plurality of feet, each of said feet being coupled to said charcuterie pan wherein each of said feet is configured to support said charcuterie pan over a support surface.
 2. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said charcuterie pan has a bottom wall and a perimeter wall extending upwardly from said bottom wall, said perimeter wall following predetermined curves and angles for facilitating said charcuterie pan to have the ornamental appearance of the novelty shape, said charcuterie pan having a plurality of dividers each extending upwardly from a top surface of said bottom wall, said dividers intersecting each other and said perimeter wall to define said plurality of compartments in said charcuterie pan.
 3. The assembly according to claim 2, wherein said indicia is printed on said top surface of said bottom wall, said indicia comprising a plurality of words comprising the name of food items, each of said words being positioned within a respective one of said compartments wherein each of said words is configured to identify the food item that is to be placed in each of said compartments.
 4. The assembly according to claim 2, wherein each of said feet is positioned on a bottom surface of sad bottom wall, said feet being spaced apart from each other and being distributed over said bottom wall, each of said feet being comprised of a resiliently compressible material wherein each of said feet is configured to grip the support surface.
 5. A charcuterie serving assembly having a plurality of defined regions for identifying types of meat, cheese and crackers to be placed in each region, said assembly comprising: a charcuterie pan having a plurality of compartments each being integrated into said charcuterie pan wherein each of said compartments is configured to contain a respective meat, cheese or crackers, said charcuterie pan being structured to have the ornamental appearance of a novelty shape, said charcuterie pan having a bottom wall and a perimeter wall extending upwardly from said bottom wall, said perimeter wall following predetermined curves and angles for facilitating said charcuterie pan to have the ornamental appearance of the novelty shape, said charcuterie pan having a plurality of dividers each extending upwardly from a top surface of said bottom wall, said dividers intersecting each other and said perimeter wall to define said plurality of compartments in said charcuterie pan, said top surface of said bottom wall having indicia being printed thereon, said indicia comprising a plurality of words comprising the name of food items, each of said words being positioned within a respective one of said compartments wherein each of said words is configured to identify the food item that is to be placed in each of said compartments; and a plurality of feet, each of said feet being coupled to said charcuterie pan wherein each of said feet is configured to support said charcuterie pan over a support surface, each of said feet being positioned on a bottom surface of sad bottom wall, said feet being spaced apart from each other and being distributed over said bottom wall, each of said feet being comprised of a resiliently compressible material wherein each of said feet is configured to grip the support surface.
 6. A method of serving food items associated with charcuterie, the steps of the method comprising: providing a charcuterie pan having a plurality of compartments each being integrated into said charcuterie pan; printing indicia in each of said compartments in said charcuterie pan comprising words to identify a food item associated with charcuterie that is to be positioned in each of said compartments; placing a food item in each of said compartments that corresponds to said indicia that is printed in each of said compartments; placing said charcuterie pan in an accessible location; and removing selected food items from selected compartments to consume the food items. 